Jun 1, 2011

Tender chunks of boneless chicken breast cooked in an aromatic creamy tomato sauce. Chicken tikka masala, probably the most popular dish on the menu of any Indian restaurant here in the states, but ironically this dish is claimed to be originally from Britain and is actually Britain's national dish.

I've attempted a skinny version of this dish many times without all the cream and ghee (clarified butter) yet never felt quite satisfied with the results. I almost gave up figuring this is probably just one of those dishes that does not lighten up well, after all it's also known as Butter Chicken!

There is no standard recipe for chicken tikka masala; a survey found that of 48 different recipes, the only common ingredient was the chicken so I am sure we all have different ideas of what it should taste like. This week I stumbled on this recipe from a throw down with Bobby Flay from the restaurant Saffron on the Hudson. I gave it another shot using fat free yogurt and low fat milk in place of the cream and we felt for a lightened up version it was pretty darn good and not too complicated, my kind of recipe! I served this over a basmati medley but this would also be wonderful with naan.

Heat oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until golden. Add the crushed ginger, stir for a few minutes then add the garlic and cook another minute. Add cumin, garam masala, turmeric, chili powder, and salt; mix well until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, yogurt and milk. Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens, about 10 minutes. Add chicken and simmer for 10 - 15 minutes or until cooked through. Add a generous amount of chopped cilantro and serve with Bamati Rice or Naan.

I bet this could also be made in the crock pot by cooking the chicken and all the spices in the liquid from the crushed tomatoes (and perhaps some veggie or chicken stock if need be) and then adding the yogurt and milk during the last 1/2 hr of cooking.

Here is the link for the naan bread and many other great bread recipes over at Budget Bytes ! I now make my own naan, pizza dough and even tortilla's! http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com/2010/09/naan-127-recipe-016-serving.html

** I'm currently enjoying the Tikka Masala as we speak, it is delicious!! Thanks Gina!!**

Yup, butter chicken is a totally different dish. As a Brit I can confirm that it is hugely popular at home (I love it when done properly) but if you ever go to India you won't find it there. Invented by the Indians in the UK for our milder (allegedly!) palate.

This looks amazing! I had no idea that this dish was actually an anglo interpretation of Indian food. I had "skinny" Indian food in London a few months back where their concept was no butter without compromising flavor. Their main substitute was also yogurt!

OOh Yum!!! I am another Brit and a good Korma is my fav dish but this is a close second..being here in AK I really miss good Indian food and have been eating a lot of your Coconut Chicken Curry..I will make this one this week and compare it...Oh and SazzyMCH you now have me craving popadoms and Mango Chutney!! Can you make that healthy Gina?

Just made this, served over bulgur with homemade whole wheat chapati bread. Absolutely delicious. I added potato, carrot, red pepper and mushrooms, as well as some chicken stock, 7oz of greek yogurt, and a cup of skim milk. This was just to stretch the sauce out because of all the extras. I also used generous measures of all of the spices and omitted the tomato simply because I didn't have it. This was absolutely delicious and very simple. Family gave it a ten out of ten and requested it go into rotation. Thanks!

I haven't made this yet but it looks great. One question: why doesn't it curdle when you keep cooking it after you add yogurt and milk. I though you always added this kind of ingredient at the very end and off the heat. Have you discovered some kind of trick?

Christine - adding the yogurt at the end as opposed to the beginning gave me the same results. But I really didn't mind the ever so slight curdle, the price you pay for fat free and the flavor was still great.

I made this for the first time last night..amazing! My husband is Indian so I have attempted a few other Chicken Tikka Masala recipes from Indian cookbooks in the past. This was much better and my husband loved it, too :)

LOVE IT! I am half Pakistani and I make Indian/Pakistani dishes ALL the time. My hubby is Pakistani. But everytime I make butter chicken for him I know I can't have it because of the amount of butter and cream that goes into it. I will try this one on him now.. thanks!-Sheena

I love this recipe!!! I have been following your website for the past few months, and your recipes are all my husband and I have been eating!! I am so greatful to be learning how to cook food that is good for you and tastes great!!! You've taught me how to cook healthier. Thank you so much for keeping up with your blog, there are so many people that are greatful!!!

Mmmm this was so good. My husband and I have been doing a loose vegetarian diet for the last month so I made this with a head of steamed cauliflower instead of the chicken. I did use a half of a chicken bouillon cube just incase it needed the "chicken flavor," but it really didn't need it. So delish! We served it with Naan.

Made this over the weekend, was really good! I admit, I doctored it a bit, added some red pepper, a whole red pepper and a brown cardamom pod for that deep smoky flavor. All the Indian cuisine lovers in my house raved! AND, try the NAAN!! It's super easy and a great addition to dinner!!!

Hi Gina I just wanted to say thank you. I know to a lot of readers you are posting great recipes but to me you are helping me save my life. I am very overweight and trying ww before i consider the surgery. Your recipes are really helping me to eat better and thank you is not enough but i will say it anyway. Thank you very much Gina<3

Hi there, I just made this and I'm curious to know if anything you've made had a slightly bitter aftertaste. I doubt it, which is why I just chucked the rest of my tomato sauce that I put in it. :( I think it's bad. I'm going to make this again soon, I love the flavor except for the bitterness. Can you tell me if that is normal or not? Thank you so much for the WONDERFUL recipes! :)

Delicious! I've never even eaten Indian food, much less cooked it! Your site is such a gift, giving me the courage to try new things along my weight loss journey. We also made the homemade naan, simple enough for my 10yo daughter to make, which was a huge hit.Thank you so much for your wonderful recipes.

Loved this! Because we don't mix meat and dairy in our house, I made it with 2 flounder fillets (cut up) instead and also added about 1/4 bag of frozen mixed vegetables as well! The Points+ worked out to be 4.

This was the first meal we've made of yours & didn't care for. I think next time we will 1/2 the spices in the recipe for our tastes. I understand people's "bitter" comments. It wasn't really bitter... but was too much seasoning for us, just had a REALLY strong flavor. We added the rest of the can of tomatoes so we would enjoy the leftovers a bit more (of course that made it acidic). I would say that if you really like strong flavors & love Indian food - then this will probably be great - but if you are like me & like "some" Indian food - then maybe this isn't a recipe that you'll love. Like I said, I think we will try it again - but with 1/2 the spices. Just wanted to put my 2 cents in - LOVE the rest of your recipes so I think this was just a matter of a difference in palate. :)

For those that are getting a bitter taste, reduce the turmeric as your first fix. Turmeric can taste quite bitter in large quantities, or if it is old or a cheaper variety. I always use it pretty sparingly, then add according to taste. A whole tbsp seems like a lot to me.

I've got this bubbling on the stove right now and it smells amazing! I live less than 100m from the best Indian restaurant in my area, so I'm continually craving Indian food. Thanks for giving me a way to get my fix without eating a week's worth of fat in one go!

Thanks infinion, I followed the recipe very close for the spices from Saffron on the Hudson, but great advice on cutting back on the turmeric. It's mostly for color so leaving it out completely would be fine.

We had this for dinner tonight, and it was delicious. We didn't experience a bitter taste at all. Next time I will increase the cooking time for the chicken, though. I used thin chicken breasts, and after 15 minutes it was still undercooked.

I made this last night...it was terrific and delicious. (I left out tumeric). I served it with home made Naan and Riata. A huge hit with everyone. Thanks for such a delicious skinny recipe. As always, You Are The Best!Lyn

Gina, when I made this I sautéed the onion, garlic, ginger and other spices and then browned up all of the chicken. Once all of the chicken was browned I placed it in the crock pot with all the other ingredients with a cup of water and let it cook all day. The amazing aroma filled the house and come dinner time it tasted amazing. I served it over oven roasted garlic cauliflower (to limit points) and even my four year old son ate it up! Thank you for all of your recipes they help keeping a healthier lifestyle that much easier. I share your site with friends, family, and even a patient or two along the way. Thank you again!

Excellent recipe! I loved the sauce so much that next time I make it, chickpeas will be replacing the chicken! :) Was a hit with the husband too - we both love Indian inspired dishes so keep them coming!

For those that had a bitter taste and needed to remove or reduce the turmeric, do some test runs of some small recipe with another brand or kind of turmeric. Actually, the same goes for the garam masala as well. Since it's a mix, you're not entirely sure what's in there, and what quality it is. I've had that experience with curry powders before that required me to throw out entire packages of newly purchased spices simply because they were too bitter for my taste. If you're having trouble, go to the store or online and buy high quality spices, try out a few, and only buy the kind you like, even if that means making an amazon order for just spices.

Gina,You did it again! My husband and I LOVE your recipes and will probably have to name our firstborn child after you to do justice to your genius!This was amazing! The spices are perfect (But I only used 1/4 tsp of chili for our wimpy palates). I practically licked the pot afterwards.We thought we could add some finely grated carrots next time for some extra sweetness/vitamins/bulk. Will let you know how that goes.

i used greek yogurt, and it never fully mixed with everything else. there were small white specks thoughout. also, it was extremely liquidy, to the point where i decided to add some cornstarch and water to thicken it up. any ideas on why this happened? It just definitely didn't look like the picture, but tasted good. also made garam marsala, googled it, toasted the spices and ground them up basically. all in all good recipe.

AWESOME! Down 20 lbs on WW in 6 wks with much help from your recipes.This was the WOW recipe for the week! My mother who has never eaten a global dish with spices in her life was blown away. Loved it! Thanks for sharing. Could not find Masala at any markets. Found a recipe on line and roasted my own put left over in the cupboard for next time we make this!!

I would have to say this is probably my least favorite recipe. I ended up having to throw away the sauce and make plain ole chicken with rice. The yogurt curdled instantly when I put it in the pan and the taste was very unpleasant. :( Very sad it didnt work out.

Hi Gina! I made this tonight and it was very tasty, but I had a problem with the yogurt. It curdled a but when I added it so I'm wondering if I did something wrong or if there is a way to add it where it won't curdle. Maybe mix it with the milk first or, like other suggestions, add just before serving? I'd like to make it again, but the clumpy yogurt wasn't nice!

I spoke to Chobani about this and this is common. They said the trick is to temper the yogurt so I will have to experiment with this. It's an issue I usually have with fat free yogurt, but never with sour cream which is why I use low fat sour cream in most of my cream dishes.

I made separate 2 batches of this tonight (one to freeze) with 2 modifications - I used 1TBSP of organic coconut oil instead of 2 tsp canola oil and after cooking the onions, ginger, garlic and spices, i threw the crushed tomatoes in - let it simmer for a little while and then I put that mixture in the blender with the greek yogurt and milk and blended up silky smooth prior to putting in the chicken - then i simmered with chicken until chicken cooked through and sauce thickened and darkened up - yummy!!! Thanks for another good one. BTW - my 1.5 year old devoured it...

I have never eaten Indian in my life, but I really wanted to try this. It was absolutely wonderful! My husband loved it, too (quite a surprise) as did my 16 month old. Thanks for encouraging me to branch out from my usual staples. I will definitely make this again.

Side note - no problems with yogurt here. I used half yogurt, half light sour cream. Everything cooked up just fine. I also added the chicken and cooked it through prior to simmering the sauce.

I started this recipe and then read the reviews, so I was a little wary. I didn't have any tumeric, so I didn't have to worry about that. Turned out great!! I've never made Indian food at home, much less a healthy version. Everyone in the house loved it!!

I made this last night, followed the recipe except for using chicken thighs, not breasts. I included the turmeric and it still turned out well. I think its a good quality brand though. i tried to temper my yogurt/milk but it was still a little curdl-y. Totally didn't affect the taste though, it was great!!! Will definitely be making this again. So much better than using the premade simmer sauces!

I made this last week for dinner! AMAZING! SOOOOOOOOOO GOOD! We love Indian food and my husband's comment was - I think this is the best meal you have EVER cooked... and added: "We don't need to go to our indian restaurant anymore!"

Hi Gina, just finished my tikka masala lunch! Fantastic! I had been making it with loads of cream and butter. So happy I found your site. I've tried quite a few of your recipes and they've all been great.

I just made this. It was so damned delicious! I skipped the cilantro, because I just don't like it, but it was great to have indian food without the guilt, and it doesn't taste "skinny" at all! Thank you for sharing!

Doubled the recipe (20-y-home from college) used Greek yogurt and a Dutch oven.Family loved it. I had it over spaghetti squash; they had it with rice and naan.Thanks so much for sharing your hard work.

I'm making this tonight, I will let you know how it works out. A comment on curdling: I found a recommendation to add a little flour to the yogurt to keep it from curdling from site about Indian cooking. I don't know how much, exactly. It said chickpea flour is recommended for authenticity, but any kind will work.

I made this last night and after reading everyone's comments made the following preparation changes. Sauteed the chicken with the onions, then added the spices (no tumeric..worried about the bitterness) to toast for a couple minutes (also added a bit of crushed red pepper flakes for heat). Add pureed tomato (store didn't have any crushed). Let simmer 5 mins. (at this point I let sit for one hour until we were ready to eat). Add milk, let simmer about 5 mins. until warm. Add 1 tsp. flour to yogurt; add to pot and simmer on low for about 5 minutes until heated through. It was nice and thick and didn't curdle. I had more than enough sauce so might cut back some last time or add some veggies or more chicken and eat leftovers. If I wasn't watching what I eat, a big hunk of bread or naan would have been great to soak up all the sauce :)

I just tried this again last night and it seems to come out too 'grainy'. The spices don't seem to be merging with the sauce well and it's not coming out as a nice, smooth tikka masala sauce. Am I doing something wrong or is that the price you pay for not using heavy cream?

I just made this last night and was so disappointed. I LOVE chicken tikka masala so I made a double batch. I found this to be almost flavorless. I followed the recipe exactly and it was very bland. I would love to try it again - any suggestions on improvements?

Made this for the first time tonight and loved it! We love Indian food and found this to be very authentic. I did not use onions (hubby can't eat them) and did not have any tumeric (so added a tad more garam masala and cumin.) It was great, and really easy. Thanks so much!

Just made this, yummy! I've never had chicken masala before, never even heard of it. A friend and her daughter were over for lunch/dinner. I made the chicken and she said it tasted like the real thing!

This was so yummy! To keep the yogurt from curdling, I did this: I put the yogurt in a mixing bowl while prepping everything else (got to about room temperature). I added the tomatoes and the milk and then turned off the heat. I stirred a half a teaspoon of all purpose flour and a spoon full of the warm sauce into the yogurt. Then my husband slowly poured in the yogurt mixture while I stirred quickly (with just a wooden spoon). I turned the heat back on and let it simmer. Not a single white lump and the sauce was thick.

Also, I served it with steamed ginger cauliflower on the side and everyone at dinner suggested I just mix the cauliflower in next time. The flavors were great together.

Another winner Gina!!!! I used low fat sour cream and it "broke" after I put it in...no big deal. I think I will add it right at the end next time and see how it goes. Still tasted fab!BTW we never said curdled in my house...always broke or did it "break". It sounds so funny now....Margaret

Tried this last night and despite curdling (I had no clue what tempering means..)it turned out great. I left out the turmeric and substituted generic curry powder for garam masala for which was nearly the same when I looked at the ingredients on the jar and added in a red jalapeno for bite. I also added diced pepper and ended up adding more tomatoes to give it a richer texture as it did go quite runny and I didn't have anything on hand to thicken it up.

I served it with Gina's brown coconut and cilantro rice (but didn't put the dessicated coconut in) steamed spinach, and low fat raita. My bf was v impressed and didn't believe they were WW recipes!

I hate to take away from making something homemade but if you are looking for a quick easy way to achieve almost the same fat/cal content trader joes also makes a Masala simmer sauce that is unbelievable (If you have Trader Joes in your area) My Indian Roomie in College used to have his mother send it to us by the case and it is wonderful thankfully they have opened in our area and I can get it for myself now.

This was WONDERFUL. Very flavorful, but not overly so. If you don't like spice, really watch the chili powder and cayenne. I used coconut oil instead of canola oil. I wished I'd had some Naan bread to go with it. Thanks, Gina!

Made this tonight, the family absolutely loved it. I did make one modification and added some Cayenne Pepper for some heat. I added a 1/2 tsp which was a bit too much. Next time I will add just a 1/4 tsp which should be perfect.

Thank you a very successful dish, surprisingly using fat free ingredient. I tried it today for dinner and It is a WINNER. Thank you. so far all the recipes I have tried from your website are winners. Thank you.

I made this tonight and LOVE it! Thank you! Such a wonderful flavor. We eat out at a local Indian place almost weekly and I'm happy that now maybe from time to time I can just make us a skinny meal at home!

Gina, my mother and grandmother are Indian and I made this for them. Funny story, it was post-Sandy so we put the pot on the grill and cooked it that way, and we all LOVED IT! I did add a 1/2 tsp of ground coriander and 1/4 tsp of cayenne but you nailed the flavors perfectly!

This was very good. Mine was a bit bitter but I didn't use turmeric so it had to be either the Chobani yogurt or cheap cumin. I added a bit of sea salt and some more chili powder and it toned it down a bit.

I had it with your Indian Spiced Cauliflower and ended up string them together. I made this the night before and had some out of the fridge while I was making the Masala and I think it would be great as a cold lunch.

OMG!! You are seriously AMAZING. I love chicken tikka masala and when I found this recipe, I was extremely skeptical. I made it the other night and it was so good, I didn't miss the cream or the butter. My boyfriend loved it. The only problem with this recipe is that it's so good, you go back for 2nds and 3rds, so you're probably consuming the same amount of calories..At least they're healthier calories. I discovered your site looking for this recipe, then the next night made another one of your recipes. I think you are my go to girl from now on Gina! Keep them coming!

I apologize if this has already been asked/answered, but is there 4 servings of 3oz of chicken each, but 16 oz. chicken total? It makes me wonder if there should be 4oz per serving or 12 oz of chicken total?... Thanks for another awesome recipe!

My sauce turned a tad "grainy." The meal was still enjoyable, but I'm not sure this is one I would make again. I did have the heat on medium after adding the tomatoes, milk, and yogurt ... then I saw to simmer on low. Do you think the heat did something to the dairy? What spice is added to Indian dishes to increase intensity? Cayenne?

Traditional recipes use heavy cream and ghee; over half of the calories usually come from fat, and at least half of the fat calories from saturated fat. Delicious and fillng, but I don't think most people would call it healthy in its original form!

OMG strugled for years to get the perfect Marsala chicken and I just pulled it of.. Great recipe Tina thanks so much it is delicious. I made a few changes because I wanted to save another trip to the store and it came out GREAT, I had diced tomatoes in a can so I put them in the blender. I did not have Greek yoghurt but Mountain High non-fat vanilla..so I substituted. Yeah a little sugar but could not taste it.. My local Indian store did not have the Graham by Shan so I bought the 'Spice Mix for Chicken Curry' instead. It had similar ingredients and tasted just like it.. Not sure if Shan changed the packaging but my local store had one that was Graham by Shan but the packaging seamed different and it mentioned spicy so I did not want to ruin a whole batch of chicken and this one came out just the same and the same ingredients as the other.. so if you local store is out or does not have it get this one.. Can't wait to start dinner now..

Very good recipe! Only thing I would change is in your description calling Murgh Makhani (Butter Chicken) and Tikka Masala the same thing. They've got similar ingredients but are quite different in that Tikka Masala (the traditional Indian recipe) has no butter in it. Tikka is known for its tomato gravy where as Makhani is known for the butter/cream mixture. Again, very similar ingredients but the traditional preparation of each dish varies greatly.

Just made this tonight for dinner. My husband is from the UK and he knows his Indian food...it passed the test! It's definitely not as rich and creamy as the full fat version from the restaurant down the street, but it doesn't taste "diet" either. It's a happy medium and satisfies his craving for Indian without busting a weeks worth of WW points. This is now a household favorite!

Hi everyone, just reading all the comments about the cream curdling..just mix a tablespoon or so of cornstarch with some water to make a slurry...add that to the yogurt and it won't break....can't wait to try this skinny version!

This was great!! So flavorful and easy! Thank you for another great recipe! I used 0% Fage and had no issues with the curdling (I did add about 1/2 T of flour, mixed in with the yogurt, and spooned in a bit of the warmed tomatoes to temper it). Will definitely make again! :)

This was awesome. I was debating on whether to try this recipe or one on another blog that was made entirely in the crockpot, so glad I chose this one. I substituted lite coconut milk for the 1%. I also browned the chicken in a very small amount of organic virgin coconut oil and some of the spices, I removed the chicken from heat. Then did the onions, garlic, spices on medium and put the chicken back in. I was kind of afraid that it would not cook all the way through in with all the tomatoes and the yogurt or milk would curdle. This was a great way around that! Also instead of crushed tomatoes I used diced fire roasted tomatoes and some tomato paste to equal one cup.

I must have done something wrong. The dish turned out with the perfect consistency, but aggressively seasoned vs what I'm used to. My husband and I love Indian food. Maybe I didn't heat the spices/onion/ginger combination for long enough?

Made this tonight and served with some brown rice and homemade naan. I used diced tomatoes and loved the bites with the tomato best, so maybe next time some tomato puree, not quite sure. But we did enjoy it and will make it again sometime. So now we have a yogurt based curry dish we love, and a tikka masala dish and naan. :) We are getting there. Now I need to try a baked samosa recipe, but that seems like a lot of work!

This was great, thanks! Two notes from me:1. It was even better the second day, so I highly recommend doubling for leftovers. 2. I skipped turmeric and still got a touch of that 'bitter' that others were noting, maybe it was just bad quality spices. I countered it with *maybe* a teaspoon of brown sugar in the whole thing, which I can't imagine affected calories that much, but helped to sweeten it up just a touch.

Great recipe! I made it tonight with tomato sauce instead of crushed tomatoes (I didn't have them), and it turned out great. I also substituted chicken with Beyond Meat "chicken" (vegetable protein) strips and they worked just fine. I'm definitely making this again!

This was pretty good, but I don't think it tasted like chicken tikka masala. I took another reviewer's advice on the yogurt (I used 0% Fage) and let it sit at room temperature while I was prepping. I added 1/2 tsp flour, and tempered it with 2 tablespoons of the tomato sauce, and then blended briefly with my immersion blender, and it didn't curdle. I'll probably make this again, but I do feel like it's missing something... but I'm not sure what. :)

This was really good. I made it for a friend yesterday for lunch. I ended up using 3 chicken breasts and towards the end added some more cumin, garam masala and added cayenne for a bit more spice. I cook Indian and pakistani dishes a lot as a native from Pakistan and this was better then the heavy cream version. My husband loves tikka shrimp so today I am going to make this version and see what he thinks. He also loves butter chicken so, I may try the Greek yogurt for that recipe as well. Have you experimented with tandoori chicken? I would love a skinny taste version of that, not that it's that unhealthy to begin with but a creamy version would be great! Thank you for a healthier kick to this tikka recipe!